


take your time (and find the words that i cannot forget)

by BloodRaven55



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And a little bit of, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Rated T for, Underage Drinking, and also no the summary is not what you think i can almost guarantee XD, and the second part is set after v5, anyway the first part is set during v3 but before the yang and mercury fight, but the progression of the bees' relationship is a bit different lol, i guess so anyway, i mean it's still mostly canon compliant, what is the legal drinking age in remnant lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 02:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21111566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodRaven55/pseuds/BloodRaven55
Summary: “Hey,” she said, and Blake came to perch herself on the edge of Yang's mattress, waiting patiently for whatever she was going to say. “So, about, uh... well, about last night—”“Oh.” Blake looked mildly confused, and she was silent for several long moments, her gaze fixed on the floor like she was running through the events in her head. “I didn't do anything too embarrassing, did I?”“No, no, that's not what I—” Yang ran a hand over her face in frustration, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. “You don't remember anything, like, kinda important happening?”





	take your time (and find the words that i cannot forget)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this on and off for a while and I finally felt inspired to finish it so here we go. Have some angst and fluff and more Beacon Bees because it's a crime there isn't more of their relationship while they were at school to be honest.
> 
> Anyway... enjoy!

When Ruby had suggested a quieter party to celebrate Yang and Weiss’ victory in the doubles round Yang hadn’t intended to get drunk. Her sister’s idea of a calm, relaxed gathering of just them and their friends sounded far more appealing after the constant training and fighting, but then Nora snuck in some premium Atlesian spirits and, well… only Weiss had actually got drunk, but none of them were entirely sober apart from Ruby.

She was surprised when Blake pulled her off to one side and asked if they could go somewhere to talk, but she wasn’t going to say no to her partner, so she let Blake drag her out of the room. They ended up on the roof of the building that housed the first year dorms, silence surrounding them except for the faint sound of the wind and the occasional muffled voice of one of the few other students who weren’t asleep yet. The sky was as dark as ink but clear, the stars glittering behind Yang’s eyes as she looked up at them, and she was about to ask what Blake had wanted to talk about when her partner spoke up.

“Thank you, Yang.”

She shot her partner a quick glance, wondering exactly what it was she was referring to. “What for?”

Blake’s gaze stayed resolutely trained on the moon hanging broken overhead, but her voice was the warmest Yang had ever heard it. “A lot of things. For persuading me to go to the dance. For caring about me. For understanding me, I guess. I know I’m not exactly… _open_, but you’ve always seemed to know what I’m thinking—” Her tone softened further still. “—what I’m feeling.”

It was probably more words than Blake had ever said to her in one go before, and Yang was speechless for a long moment as she tried to figure out how to respond. “You don’t have to thank me for any of that. I li— you’re important to me, and it makes me happy to make you happy. Besides, I want to thank you too. For listening to my sob story about Raven. And for dancing with me. I—” She paused, her cheeks heating up slightly as she remembered how Blake had extended her hand with a confident smile as she asked if Yang’s offer still held. “—I had a lot of fun.”

She reached up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, feeling shy in a way that was unfamiliar but definitely not unwelcome, and there were several seconds where she worried that she might have gone a step too far—said just a little too much—and she was about to say something else. To backtrack in an attempt to cut through the oppressive tension that was settling over them. She turned to face her partner, opening her mouth to speak—

Softness. And warmth. That was all her brain could process for what felt like an eternity as Blake’s lips pressed gently against her own. She felt as though the world had stopped turning, but she knew it hadn’t because she could hear her heart racing in her chest— the small sound of surprise that escaped before she could swallow it back down. Blake’s hands cupped her face, tenderly—almost reverently—and it snapped her out of her shock.

She finally found the presence of mind to kiss her back, losing herself in the rhythm as their mouths moved together without any sense of urgency. She curled an arm around Blake’s waist, pulling her closer, and she couldn’t help the moan that caught in her throat when her partner deepened the kiss. Her head was spinning, and she still wasn’t entirely certain that this was actually happening.

It seemed so surreal. She must have passed out back in the dorm room and be dreaming right now, because there was no way that Blake Belladonna, the girl she’d been weak for since the moment she’d smirked at her and claimed Yang as her partner in the Emerald Forest, had not only chosen to dance with her but was now making out with her on a deserted rooftop at one in the morning.

The way her lungs started to burn with the need to breathe proved that it was real, however, and she reluctantly pulled away, even though every fibre of her being was begging her to just let Blake do whatever she wanted. It wouldn’t be right, though— they were both at least a little drunk, and she didn’t want there to be regrets about this the next day.

Blake seemed to have the same idea, because she didn’t press forward to reconnect their lips, and when Yang opened her eyes her partner was studying her intently, like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Blake’s tongue swept across her bottom lip, presumably because they were as dry and chapped as Yang’s from the alcohol and the— the _kissing_, and Yang pushed herself unsteadily to her feet before either of them could make things worse.

They needed to talk about this, and they couldn’t do that until they were completely sober, so for now she pushed down the hope and affection and _everything_ bubbling up in her chest and offered Blake her hand instead. In a perfect mirror of how her partner had led her onto the dance floor earlier, Blake intertwined their fingers, letting Yang pull her up and tug her towards the way down on the other side of the roof.

Several minutes later they were stumbling down the corridor towards Team RWBY’s dorm room, giggling every time they nearly tripped over their own feet, and eventually they made it to what they were fairly sure was the correct door. Blake fumbled with her card, botching the first attempt to swipe it through the lock, and Yang only just managed to suppress her laughter, but then the door swung open and they found that luck had been on their side with it both being the right room and neither Ruby or Weiss having woken up even with them making too much noise on their way back.

* * *

Yang rolled away from the sunlight streaming through the curtains, groaning as she became aware of the pounding in her head. Memories of the night before flickered haphazardly through her still muddled brain— the party, the drinks, Weiss' terrible dancing after those drinks had been consumed, her and Blake—

Wait, what?

Was she going crazy?

Had Blake actually—

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and though she knew it was only in her mind she could still feel her partner’s lips on her own. The memory was much too vivid to be a dream, and so she had to face the fact that yes, they had apparently kissed last night.

Even as she felt a smile spread across her face and butterflies dance in her stomach, she tried not to get her hopes up. It was hard to judge anything that had happened when there had been alcohol involved, and she didn't want to read too much into something that might not have meant what she wanted it to mean.

It could simply have been the romantic atmosphere of the night sky, or the way it had felt like they were the only two people in the world, or the drink turning Blake's attempt at thanking her into something else. Or maybe it had just been a heat of the moment impulse that would never be repeated. There were countless reasons why it might not have meant that Blake genuinely liked her the same way, and Yang didn't want to burden Blake with her own emotions unless she was absolutely certain her feelings were returned.

She let out a sigh, turning onto her back and throwing her arm over her eyes to block out the painfully bright day outside. This was useless— she was driving herself crazy overthinking things when what she knew she really needed to do was talk to Blake. That way she'd get a clear answer one way or the other and she could move on for better or for worse.

As if on cue a dull thud signalled her partner was awake and had got out of bed, and she lowered her arm to see Blake heading into the bathroom. She relaxed back into the pillows, resolving to wait until Blake came back out to ask her if they could talk. The pain in her skull has lessened a little by the time her partner stepped out of the bathroom again, and she sat up to catch Blake's eye, hoping that she didn't look like too much of a mess despite the hangover.

“Hey,” she said, and Blake came to perch herself on the edge of Yang's mattress, waiting patiently for whatever she was going to say. “So, about, uh... well, about last night—”

“Oh.” Blake looked mildly confused, and she was silent for several long moments, her gaze fixed on the floor like she was running through the events in her head. “I didn't do anything _too_ embarrassing, did I?”

“No, no, that's not what I—” Yang ran a hand over her face in frustration, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. “You don't remember anything, like, kinda important happening?”

Blake's expression was thoughtful for a beat, and then she shook her head. “I don't think so, no.”

Yang hadn't known that five small words could break her heart, but she couldn't think of any other way to describe the sudden ache in her chest. Tears started to sting behind her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could fall and forced a wide smile instead, hoping that Blake was still too hungover to notice that it was fake.

“Okay! I was just checking. Gotta make sure I didn't miss anything, y'know.” Her cheerful tone was far from convincing, but her voice didn't shake and she counted that as a success.

“If you say so.” Blake looked at her for several seconds longer, like she was trying to read between the lines, but then she stood and headed for the desk to retrieve her textbooks, apparently accepting what Yang had said as the truth.

Yang let her face fall as soon as her partner's back was turned, wondering if she was foolish to feel so much pain at the loss of something that had never even truly existed.

* * *

Blake sighed as she ran some cold water over her hands, splashing her face in an attempt to wake herself up as she reminded herself that she still had two more lectures today before she could go back to the dorm room and sleep forever. She ran her tongue over her lower lip to catch a stray droplet of water, and she started as she detected a faint taste of strawberry. She hadn't put any lip gloss on this morning, so why would there be— unless that meant that—

Yang always wore strawberry lip gloss. It was her favourite flavour, as Blake had discovered about a week into their partnership.

Which meant that the kiss she'd assumed was just a dream had been real.

Her hungover brain was having trouble processing, and she glanced up at her reflection in the mirror. She looked scared, but more than that she looked happy—truly happy—and that only terrified her more. The realisation that she and Yang had actually _kissed_ and she'd told her partner that she didn't remember it happening hit her with the force of a physical blow, and she felt herself start to hyperventilate.

She gripped the edge of the sink hard enough that her knuckles turned white, and her vision blurred as her eyes began to sting. It was even worse—to know that she _could_ have had Yang but she’d still let the opportunity slip through her fingers—than never to have had the opportunity at all.

She slowly calmed her breathing, forcing herself to relax as she finished up and left the bathroom, telling herself that the droplets on her cheeks were only water as she dried her face.

* * *

Blake knocked on the door of her and Yang’s shared room, doing her best not to crush the bouquet of flowers she was holding while also not letting them slip out of her grip. For a moment she contemplated just throwing them into the nearest bin— they felt like a cheesy gesture, one she couldn't help worrying Yang might not take kindly to if she thought that Blake was trying to make up for leaving simply with some pretty petals.

But she needed to do _something_. Things had been so awkward between her and Yang ever since the team had fully reunited, and Blake couldn't stand being in this never-ending limbo anymore. As if on cue the door opened, and Yang's face went from blank to full of shock in the space of only a few seconds. Her partner's features quickly became expressionless once again as Yang measured her emotions, but she stepped aside to let Blake into the room.

Blake set the bouquet down on the top of the dresser, fiddling with the stems of the flowers for a moment in a nervous tick as an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. When it grew too stifling, she broke it, stammering slightly as she tried to find any words that would be good enough.

“These are— these are for you.”

“Thanks,” Yang said, but the weak smile on her lips didn't reach her eyes.

When she didn't say anything else, Blake swallowed hard, gathering all of her courage. “Yang, we need to talk.”

Yang nodded, her voice as dull and resigned as the look on her face. “I know. Believe me, I know. I just— I don't know if there's anything we can say to make this better.”

Blake felt her eyes start to sting, her heart cracking open in her chest. “I don't believe that.” The words came out more firmly than she had intended, and she took a step forward, feeling the faintest glimmer of hope when Yang didn’t back away. “Yang, I'm _sorry_. I am so, so sorry. I know I h-hurt you, which is the opposite of what I wanted. Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done, but you don't understand—”

“So _make_ me understand.”

Blake almost wished that Yang's voice would rise in anger just a little bit, because it would be better than the empty, lifeless way her partner was speaking now— like Yang had just given up. Like she desperately wanted to try but the effort of doing so was bleeding her dry. She felt almost nauseous as she realised that this was her last chance to fix whatever this was. She had to share _everything_, or else she'd always wonder how things might have gone differently.

“Okay,” she said simply. A flicker of surprise passed across Yang's features, like she hadn't actually expected Blake to meet her halfway. That alone only solidified Blake's resolve to prove her wrong— to prove she wasn't the same person who had left Yang behind. Who had believed it was her destiny to always remain a coward.

“I’m not good for you, Yang. I’m not good for _anyone_. I’m toxic, and I couldn’t— I couldn’t poison you too. You deserve so much better than what I have to give. There’s all of this _weight_ pressing down on me, and if I’d let you carry it then it would have crushed you. So I had to leave. I had to make sure you were safe, because that’s— that’s all that matters. And if you h-hated me it would have been worth it as long as y-you were okay—”

Yang’s hands cupped her face, encouraging eye contact, and Blake reluctantly met her gaze. “Blake, I want you to listen to me. _Really_ listen to me. Okay?” She waited for Blake to nod and then she leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. “I don’t know what made you think that way, but I can make a few guesses. It doesn’t matter, though. No matter what you’ve been through, you are _not_ toxic. You’ve made mistakes, sure, but so have I. They don’t define us.”

Yang brushed a few loose strands of hair away from Blake’s forehead, and she couldn’t help leaning into her partner’s touch as Yang continued talking, her voice becoming softer and gentler. “You made me happy, Blake. Really, really happy. And you need to know that it’s not a choice of one of us dealing with this shit alone— we can do it together. That’s all I want. Just for you to be here. Not because you feel like you have to be, but because you want to be.”

There was a moment of silence as Blake soaked in the affection with which Yang was looking at her. She still wasn’t sure she was worthy of it, but she was still here—she’d chosen to stay—and maybe for now that was enough. “That’s— That’s why I came back. That’s why I’m staying. I do want to be here. With you. It’s just… going to take me time to learn how to do this properly.”

Yang smiled almost cheekily, her hands falling to the small of Blake’s back to pull her just a little closer. “Then it’s a good thing I’m not going anywhere either.”

Their noses were brushing together, Yang’s breath was washing over her lips, her partner’s body was warm against her own, and Blake wanted so badly to kiss her. She knew she shouldn’t—they were only just starting to repair their relationship, and this was exactly the kind of thing that could set them back to square one—but it was so hard to resist when she’d already done it once before.

The fact that her memory of their first kiss was blurry only made it more frustrating. She wanted to uncover all the parts she was missing— do it _properly_ this time. But they’d never even talked about it after that night at Beacon. What if Yang didn’t want—

“Can I kiss you?” The question slipped out before she could think to stop it, and Yang’s eyes widened slightly. “I want to be sure— I should have asked last time.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Yang’s voice filled the air, small and shaky but hopeful. “You… you remember?”

Blake froze for a moment, realising that she’d been so caught up in everything else that she’d forgotten that Yang still thought she hadn’t remembered. But Yang deserved to know, so she took a deep breath and let the words out in a rush. “When I woke up the next morning I thought it was a dream—I couldn’t imagine there was any way you would have actually kissed me back if it was real—so I told you I didn’t remember because surely you were talking about something else. But later I realised, and I figured it was too late, so I didn’t say anything. I’m sorry, though— for not telling you sooner.”

Yang still looked a little thrown, but when she smiled it was light and genuine. “Come here.”

With permission given, Blake gave into the urge pounding in her chest, leaning forward to catch Yang’s mouth with her own. It was so familiar and yet so new at the same time, and she looped her arms around Yang’s neck as her partner kissed her back, pulling her down for a better angle. Yang sighed into her mouth, and Blake tried to slow down, pushing the urgent desperation of getting the chance to have something she thought could never be hers to the back of her mind. She let the tension leave her body, relaxing into her partner as she left a final soft kiss on Yang’s lips before pulling away to breathe. Unable to resist, she raised an eyebrow, delighting in the slightly dazed look on her partner’s face.

“What happened to ‘I don't know if there's anything we can say to make this better’?” Yang turned bright red, and Blake had to suppress the laugh that bubbled up from her chest.

“Well, I was wrong. But Weiss was right. She told me I didn’t understand why you’d left, and I’m not going to pretend everything’s just fine right away but… it will be. I think you’ve said more words to me in the last hour than you did in all our time at Beacon. We just need to keep talking to each other— being honest about things.”

“I think I can manage that,” Blake promised, leaning up to press a kiss to Yang’s cheek instead and smiling when her partner pulled her into a hug, so warm and solid and safe.

Yeah, they were going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit different to what I usually write maybe so let me know what you think! Any comments apart from non-constructive criticism are more than welcome and I'll see y'all next time :)


End file.
